This whole exercise started when I saw a crap load of GL 4-Inch 2 Packs for a $1. A dollar! And even then, I found no interest in them.

To be fair, there was some Marvel stuff on clearance too. At Walmart, I can still get my pick of a Movie Series Helmeted Thor for $9 (or $11; it fluctuates). Iron Man 3-3/4-Inch figures are $5 and the Sentinel is $30. At Target, they are not toys, but the Avengers bobbleheads, a Strategy game and a Iron Man role play set are all on clearance too (so are MiB role play stuff).

But this is countered by the load of Marvel Stuff still in the A-F aisle, including The Avengers merch (including a lot of exclusives at Walmart), Spider-Man movie merch and Marvel Universe (I no longer see pegs for ML ). TRU is about the same, minus the mega clearances, but with their share of Marvel exclusive merch, punctuated by the big Avengers display being replaced by a big Spider-Man display (I hope we get one for Batman).

There is nothing is left of DC in the action figure aisle but DKRises and Power Attack Batman, and those are squeezed into the aisle or badly thrown onto a endcap. Some Walmarts still have DCUC -- mine has two pegs of four figures, all from their last exclusive series and one of that Cyclotron dude; another one has a huge endcap with them all on clearance for $11 -- but not all.

It feels like in the last year or so -- when DCUC was basically canceled? -- DC has gone backwards, at least for collector-oriented figures. DC has a greater presence in the pre-school aisle than A-F. I hope SDCC offers more hope in 2013 than just a chance at a DCIE subscription.

This whole exercise started when I saw a crap load of GL 4-Inch 2 Packs for a $1. A dollar! And even then, I found no interest in them.

To be fair, there was some Marvel stuff on clearance too. At Walmart, I can still get my pick of a Movie Series Helmeted Thor for $9 (or $11; it fluctuates). Iron Man 3-3/4-Inch figures are $5 and the Sentinel is $30. At Target, they are not toys, but the Avengers bobbleheads, a Strategy game and a Iron Man role play set are all on clearance too (so are MiB role play stuff).

But this is countered by the load of Marvel Stuff still in the A-F aisle, including The Avengers merch (including a lot of exclusives at Walmart), Spider-Man movie merch and Marvel Universe (I no longer see pegs for ML ). TRU is about the same, minus the mega clearances, but with their share of Marvel exclusive merch, punctuated by the big Avengers display being replaced by a big Spider-Man display (I hope we get one for Batman).

There is nothing is left of DC in the action figure aisle but DKRises and Power Attack Batman, and those are squeezed into the aisle or badly thrown onto a endcap. Some Walmarts still have DCUC -- mine has two pegs of four figures, all from their last exclusive series and one of that Cyclotron dude; another one has a huge endcap with them all on clearance for $11 -- but not all.

It feels like in the last year or so -- when DCUC was basically canceled? -- DC has gone backwards, at least for collector-oriented figures. DC has a greater presence in the pre-school aisle than A-F. I hope SDCC offers more hope in 2013 than just a chance at a DCIE subscription.

Young Justice, Green Lantern, Total Armor Bats, and DCUC have all been cancelled; Batman Legacy has been put on hold until 2013 (because of the mass DKR offerings).

We will see what 2013 holds at SDCC. We know we are getting a new Mattel DC Comics line to replace DCUC, and there are rumors of a DC Collectibles 4" line. So I wouldn't panic just yet. Hopefully, Mattel will reassess and have a better strategy going forward.

With Mattel and DCC both offering figures, there will be no shortage of DC action figures next year. I just wish the two companies would coordinate with each other a little better in terms of scale and product offerings. Did we really need two different New 52 Batmen? Why do we need DCC versions of the DKR figures when we already have the Mattel Movie Masters?

I know Batman products sell through the roof, but its frustrating getting multiple figure duplicates when neither company is offering vehicles, cases or playsets for these collector-oriented figures.

The sad part is that these clearance prices are what I would consider fair for the Batman and YJ figures. The retail prices for these guys was right around double what it would have been a couple of years ago.

That's what struck me as... funny? at Target. The same price increases happened at my Target a month or so ago, when the YJ 6-Inch figures first went on clearance. And now? The items whose price increased are now on the way out.

Isn't this normal around this time of year? Then the new toys start coming out in August?

Maybe; I guess July is usually when we start seeing a clear out, but the sad part is that there is no new DC merchandise coming to replace what is going away. And to see the heavy clearances at Walmart, which can waffle sometimes on clearance items, unlike Target (my Walmart still has a Toy Biz Legendary Comic Book Heroes Clownface and Panda 2-Pack on clearance for $15 and change), means they really want to get rid of that stuff, like it's a store plague or something.

And even more sad? My WM will never move those Green Lantern sets, even at $1. No wonder stores dropped merchandise and Mattel had to cancel lines. Too bad, for us, that for whatever reasons, Mattel has nothing to fill in the shrinking and overcrowded A-F aisle space.

That's what struck me as... funny? at Target. The same price increases happened at my Target a month or so ago, when the YJ 6-Inch figures first went on clearance. And now? The items whose price increased are now on the way out.

isn't this just so strange, it was the price mainly (and other things too) that killed this line so increasing it makes no sense. They did the same thing with the JLU 3 packs which they jacked up to $19.99 and in some stores to $21.99 towards the end. All that was hanging there were really old packs that no one wanted at even $9. Target's reasoning is very odd. But i did get cap america line red skull ($3.50), the redskull 2pk ($7) and single bones (3), bones comic pack for like $7. Only price i would have paid for these but the prices also varied in different stores. What i have noticed is stores in the upper class neighborhoods tend to charge more.

What i find disappointing is that MU went from $6.99 to $8.49 ($9.99 and $10.49 in some stores), they got rid of fig stands starting with wv 17 and paint app and quality has dipped a bit. Sad because they were the reference of what a semi high end 3.75" mass market line should be like. I guess SW and MU both are still pretty reference. I get that they may have wanted to drop the stands because of all the print errors and naming each character, but they could have just gone with a generic stand.

The sad part is that these clearance prices are what I would consider fair for the Batman and YJ figures. The retail prices for these guys was right around double what it would have been a couple of years ago.

This.And I'm frustrated as hell that, even with all the clearancing and sales, I have yet to see anything newer than the DCUC "skittles" wave on the pegs here. The STRIPE wave never hit, or hit in such minimal numbers that it was completely gone within a day. I hated having to pay shipping on top of an already inflated price tag just to get my Golden Age Sandman, because I NEVER SAW HIM IN A STORE. Even the aborted wave 1 of the DC Super Heroes never made it here. Every time they fill up the bloody pegs, it's with Cyclotron (who apparently was manufactured in even greater numbers than Captain Cold was, which boggles the mind) and with Orange Luthor, Purple Wonder Woman, Barbarian Atom, etc., etc., etc. Surely more than one case of Waves 19 or 20 made it here???